Children are becoming the internet experts in families as their parents leave them to it in what could be "a lasting reversal of the generation gap", according to research published today.

The report from the London School of Economics claims that warnings about the risks of chat rooms and of meeting strangers and paedophiles have got through to youngsters, but that parents, government departments and internet providers could do more to make the internet safer for children.

The UK Children Go Online report is launched today by the LSE to kick off what is believed to be the largest such research exercise into children's use of the internet. The authors, Professor Sonia Livingstone and Magdelena Bober of the LSE's Media and Communications department, talked to 14 focus groups of nine- to 19-year-olds about how they used the internet, and their opinions on its safety and value.

They found that even in households with one or more computer-literate adults, children were often the internet experts, although they mainly used the internet to communicate with friends and relatives, and for music and games.

The report observes that this form of internet literacy is a boost to the self-esteem of youngsters. "Both girls and boys gain significant, perhaps even unprecedented, social status through the value that adults place on this expertise," it says. "Although parents may be 'catching up', young people's willingness to experiment may make this a lasting reversal of the generation gap."

The report finds that although parents do monitor internet use, children object to being checked on, and can find ways to get around the restrictions placed on them.